Taxes and Other Unnatural Disasters

It's tax time - Yay! ...or not! A lot of people who filed with Educational Credits and some other types of credits, got thrown for a loop this year. Because our government is stupid (sorry, but hey! I only speak truth), the IRS couldn't accept Education Credit Form 8863 until February 14, 2013. Anybody who filed prior to that date with that credit had their return held until the IRS could receive it. At the same time, the IRS was cracking down on fraud, so a larger number of returns were pulled this season than in previous seasons. Now if all of that wasn't enough, some tax preparers (H&R Block being the largest, and Jackson-Hewitt and Turbo Tax having smaller numbers of affected people) were using outdated 8863 forms and the IRS's system was reading them as blank, but it wasn't caught until about the first week of March. The IRS had to manually fix those forms, and it caused a delay of epic proportions. People were confused, angry, and in despair, and regardless of what others may think, poor people (and some not-so-poor people) rely on their tax returns for a variety of reasons, so no judging!! 

Our tax return was caught up in this mess, and it was a horrible experience. I would call the IRS to find out what was happening and every time I got a different answer. Some of the people flat lied, and others were rude, and you couldn't trust anything any of them said.  And H&R Block wasn't much better, although less rude. I finally found out what was wrong by doing a Google search. Once I knew, I called H&R Block back to see what they had to say. They acted like they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. A few phone conversations down the road, they promised to call me with progress reports or just to check in and let me know they were "there" for me. None of that happened. I called corporate offices and spoke to a lady who was very nice about filing a complaint and requesting my filing fee be returned to me for unsatisfactory service - they do have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. She explained that a regional manager would be contacting me within 3-5 business days - that never happened either. And I wasn't alone - hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by this and no one was getting any answers. H&R Block finally posted an announcement on their Facebook page, if you can imagine that, and people were furious. Finally in a letter from the C.E.O. of H&R Block on their blog about the middle of March, was posted the real story and accepted responsibility. That should make the class action suit against them easier to do. Week before last, I got $30 back from H&R Block and a hopeful request for me to continue to use them for our tax needs. I don't think that will be happening.

When we got our taxes prepared with H&R Block on February 12th, afterwards we went to Joplin to pick up my husband's new computer, and then we went to Sears to take a look at refrigerators. We found one on sale and it was such a good sale that we decided to put it on layaway, thinking that in 2-3 weeks we'll have out tax money back and can pay it off early. We thought wrong! Every two weeks until we finally got our return on March 28th we had to make a payment on that refrigerator. During that time when our return wasn't received and we didn't know what was happening and then when we knew what the problem was but not when our money would come, we were under such stress! We are in that group of po' folk who use their return to make major purchases (like a refrigerator) or pay off bills, or remodel the house. We were really sweating it, because that bi-weekly payment was killing us. We're talking a $2000 refrigerator @ $300 every two weeks!

Finally on March 28th, we got our money so on Tuesday April 2nd, we took a trip to Joplin and paid off the refrigerator, and bought a new microwave that matched but they couldn't deliver the 'fridge until April 11th. So I had to wait another 10 days to get it. In order to just pay one delivery fee, I had them put my microwave for delivery with the 'fridge - no biggie, right?

Isn't it pretty?

So, this past Thursday Sears came with my new appliances...or so I thought. My refrigerator came, but my microwave was not on the truck. The delivery/installation team was super nice and wonderfully efficient until it came time to install the water line. No compression fitting was to be seen anywhere and it was a necessary little part that allows the water line from the refrigerator to pair with the line running to the water source. Long story short (I know, too late!) Sears is sending a fitting they found in the store along with my microwave this coming Thursday (April 18th). Until then, I have a beautiful new Samsung refrigerator that doesn't dispense water or ice. 

Lot's of room, and a freezer underneath!

Now, back to that letter from H&R Block hoping that they will see us next year for our business: They sent me a crappy $30 when it cost me $220 to file, never did anything they said they would as far as informing me of what was happening, or contacting me, and acted like they didn't know anything was even wrong when I called even though it was all over the news, internet, and papers. No, I'm not going back, but those aren't the only reasons. For the last three years, their service has gone down in quality. I can no longer count on getting the same preparer, let alone an experienced one. This year the woman doing our taxes told me she had just completed her 6 weeks of training on January 21st... :o  I'm fairly certain they hire new people every tax season because other than the owner, I haven't seen anyone I recognize from previous years, and for the last three years, our preparers has had to ask the owner how to do the Education Credit Form. We actually discussed NOT going to H&R Block this year, but then decided to go ahead, thinking it was cheaper than going to a CPA. Wrong again! My boss got his and his son's taxes done at an accountant for less than we paid. So, no, I'm not going back, and it's not just because of one little screw up. Are they solely to blame for the fiasco? No, the IRS didn't help the situation by lying to people, and we already know it's pointless to even attempt to have respect for most government offices, so decisions often come down to "who will jack with me less?" The government will always screw things up - that's a given. Choosing a company to do business with that you can respect is important, and who can respect a company who can't own up to a mistake?

Now I want to close this on a happy note. Remember back this summer when I lost my glasses (see So Much for Karma)? Well I finally got some new glasses. They aren't the same ones, but pretty similar, so I can see good again and they're pretty  :)